I heard that Jesse Malin was free of all vices -- didnt drink, didnt
smoke -- and that he kept journalists waiting until four in the morning
before sitting down to talk. As it happened, the other night at Coney Island
High, Malin downed a double-shot of tequila, chug-a-lugged a quick beer, and
joined me in the clubs office a little after midnight for the following
interview ...

I hear youre going on tour soon.

In a month, were going on tour. In the beginning of March, yeah. Were gonna do the whole country. Possibly with this band Fluffy from England, a girl band.

How about recording.

Weve been recording a whole bunch of new songs. But were still working No Lunch cause the records only been out about five, six months. It still hasnt reached where we want it to go. Its kinda new in the realm of the world. It hasnt come out in England yet.

I saw your show at Irving Plaza last July, the night after you played the Garden with Kiss. Howd you like doing those gigs back to back?

Yeah, that was fun. One night, the Garden. The next night, Irving Plaza. It
was pretty funny. You know its a goof. One night youre hanging out with
all these famous people, the next night youre back on your home turf. The Gardens very weird and surreal. You look out and all you see is dots.

How do you like touring in general?

Well, you know you spend like 15, 20 hours trying to get there and get
things ready, then you spend an hour on stage -- thats the best part.
It makes it all worth it. But the other stuff -- its like really weird.
We gotta go to strange towns and hang out in truck stops and be laughed
at -- but it keeps you in touch with Gods country, with the average Joe.
New York is very much a safe, little fun place. You can get people to pat
you on your back, easily. But when you go out there to Middle America,
people arent all art fans, going to art galleries, actors and actresses.
It makes a big difference ...

[Coney Island employee walks in. Malin introduces her as "the Energizer
Bunny" after hearing her say shes been "working all night long." Malin
then says, "Shes not powdering her nose the wrong way. Dont powder your
nose from the inside ..." Girl goes on to describe an unfortunate
experience that just transpired in the bathroom. ]

I heard that D Gen is moving towards a harder, punk sound.

Were just doing D Generation. The last two songs I showed the band
yesterday that I wrote, one was country and one was a pop song. We do a
little of everything. If I was gonna hop on a bandwagon right now, Id do
electronic music. Id listen to Kraftwerk, Prodigy, Chemical Brothers. Were just doing what weve always done. Its hard to explain. People have to put labels on things. Put it in a slot. But we just sing about what we feel.

What local gigs are you doing in the near future?

Were playing CBGBs. Were doing like a two night thing on February 28th and March 1st, a Friday and Saturday, with this band Stitches.

Being that were an electronic magazine, it probably makes sense to ask you what you think about the Web.

I think communication is real important. The only thing I dont like about computers is if they cause people to stay in their houses. Thats why I like nightclubs and concerts, they bring people together. When they go out to see shows, you have people interacting with people. Thats very important. On the other hand, with computers you can talk to people around the world, which is great. So theres both good and bad to it.